Two events to help the Roma of Kosovo: Friday May 6 - Romani Culture Night
7:30-10:30 pm, Veterans Building, 282 South High St.

7:30 pm	a) "A Life in Pictures: the remarkable paintings by Romani artist Ceija Stojka," presentation by Dr. Michaela Grobbel, Sonoma State University. b) Introduction about the work of VoR in regard to the current situation of the European Roma.
8:30 pm	Acoustic Balkan Romani Dance Music: Cele Paskoski, Chris Bajmakovich, Rumen Sali Shopov, Benji Rifati

Saturday May 7 - Herdeljezi Stage
10:30 am -9:00 pm, Ives Park - RAIN OR SHINE !
(if rain, next door in Veterans Building, 282 South High St.)

Vocal, clarinet, drum, accordion, and dance workshops, live music, dancing, authentic Romani food by George Adams, handcrafts by Threads That Connect Us (VoR sewing project), henna art.
Performers and teachers include: Rumen Shopov, Cele Paskoski, Chris Bajmakovich, Inspector Gadje brass band, Vadim Kolpakov and VIA Romen, Gypsy Boys (Paul and George Stevens) and Danny Fender, Šani and Benji Rifati, Petra Gelbart, Stefka Kamburova...
$18, students & seniors $15 (12 and under free, no one turned away for lack of funds)

HERDELJEZI FESTIVAL SCHEDULE - 2011
In case of rain, all park activities will be held in Vets Hall.

How it started

In 1996 VOR created the first Herdeljezi Festival in California. It was designed as a means of preserving and sharing the cultural traditions and folk arts of the Romani people here in the United States, while building a sense of community among the friends and neighbors who help to make it happen. Since then the Herdeljezi Festival has become an annual event that draws larger crowds each year. Ten years later, the Herdeljezi Festival continues to exemplify the way in which VOR creates a sense of "mahala" (community-neighborhood) infusing it with the traditional and authentic Romani music, songs, dances, stories, foods, crafts, literature and customs of the Roma. This Event benefits VOR's efforts on behalf of the Roma in/from Kosovo, to educate the public and international organizations about their plight and to provide them with humanitarian aid.

The 15th Annual California Herdeljezi Festival, a traditional Romani (Gypsy) folk arts festival will be held May 6 and 7, 2011, in Sebastopol California. The festival celebrates the folk art traditions of Roma (Gypsies); featuring traditional music, songs, dances, stories, foods, crafts and customs of the Roma, within a strong community-building context, and with a goal of creating a sense of 'mahala' (shared community-neighborhood) amongst all who participate.

For its first several years, the California Herdeljezi Festival was held on the grounds of a neighborhood cul de sac and nearby local church in a small town in Western Sonoma County. Having outgrown this space by the fifth annual festival, the location was moved to the downtown block of Graton; where over 700 people attended.

In 2003 the 7th Annual Herdeljezi Festival was expanded to a two-day event, this time at a community center and beautiful park in downtown Sebastopol, the largest city in Western Sonoma County. 2003 was the first year that a grant from the California Arts Council enabled small fees to be paid to artists, technicians, and festival coordinators. More than 900 people attended this highly successful gathering.

Preparation for the Herdeljezi Festival begins months before the actual event. VOR president Sani Rifati takes the lead in soliciting input from other cultural experts, such as Esma Redzepova (The Queen of "Gypsy" Song), Ian Hancock (Rom scholar and professor of linguistics at the University of Austin, Texas), and Carol Silverman (professor of Folklore and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oregon with a specialty in Romani music), as well as Romani friends and family from diverse countries. Volunteers attend planning meetings, make arrangements for and with the participating artists, and work with local partners such as the Sebastopol City Council and Sebastopol Parks and Recreation Services as well as many local businesses.

Past Festivals have included celebrated performers such as Flamenco! Live! Dance Ensemble with dancer La Fibi; Rumen Shopov, master Bulgarian Rom musician and band leader; Sani Rifati, drummer, dancer and dance instructor in the Balkan Romani tradition; Kitka, Bay Area Balkan Women's Choir singing Romani folk songs; "El Lolo" Mario Torres, a Spanish Rom Flamenco singer-guitarist; Kajira and United We Dance, the soloist and belly-dance troup, performing in the Romani tradition; Edessa and Anoush, two popular Bay Area Balkan Bands; Jaime del Rio and his Flamenco musicians and dancers; Eugene Hutz and other members of the band "Gogol Bordello," plus many others.

In addition to the high caliber music, dance, and spoken word performers, some of whom come from as far away as Vancouver, BC, New York, Virginia, Iowa, Washington, Oregon and Southern California to participate in the festival, the festival includes other expressions of Romani culture and folk arts such as: henna painting, an exhibition of traditional Romani handcrafts such as colorful crocheted shawls, tablecloths, embroidered decorative pillows, hand knit clothing, etc., photo exhibits and screenings of video documentaries, traditional Romani circus arts, etc. The involvement of the surrounding community is enhanced by a parade through the neighborhood, featuring music and dance. The day's festival lasts all afternoon and evening, and includes the ritual lighting of the fire and burning of the symbolic "biggest" log, maintaining this important Romani cultural tradition celebrating the spring-summer season of movement and outdoor life.

Featured Artists

RUMEN SHOPOV
Rumen Shopov hails from Gotse Delchev, a crossroads town in southwest Bulgaria neighboring the borders of Greece and Macedonia. A master of the tambura (long necked mandolin), bouzouki, and an accomplished drummer and vocalist, Shopov was concertmaster of the Nevrokopski Folk Ensemble, Bulgaria's first national folk ensemble, for more than 20 years. He was also lead member of two of the Pirin region's hottest bands: Shturo Make and Orkestar Orbita. In 2002, he toured across America with the Kolev Family Ensemble. His music captures and showcases the sparkling fretwork, incendiary rhythms, and expressive soul of his native Bulgarian/Turkish-Romani musical tradition. Shopov has been artistic consultant to three previous VOR-International Roma Day celebrations.

GYPSY BOYS (Paul and George Stevens)
"Paul and George Stevens (Gypsy Boys) have been playing music since they were children. They started performing about ten years ago. And have made a lot of parties an experience that will never be forgotten. They don't just stand there and play. The Guitar player plays guitar and Dances at the same time it's a really cool show. They also have a 10 piece band known as A Band of Gypsys." (P.S.)

DANNY FENDER
"He plays his music at Gypsy weddings, dances, and reunions. His wicked brand of guitarwork is known as 'California Style,' which is all but unknown to anyone but fellow Gypsies." (hotclub.co.uk)

CHRIS BAJMAKOVICH
Chris Bajmakovich, born in Chicago into a Macedonian Rom family, began playing accordion at age 5. He first professionally performed with a band at age 14, and gave solo performances in smaller venues, playing at weddings, christenings, church dances, and private parties, primarily in the large Balkan immigrant communities of Chicago. He also toured throughout the US with Macedonian singers. Bajmakovich has performed with many well-known musicians, including Ferus Mustafov, Milan Zavkov and Sasko Velkoy. He performed at VOR's 2006 International Roma Day event and has recorded several CDs.

VADIM KOLPAKOV and VIA ROMEN
Russian seven-string guitarist, vocalist, actor and dancer. One of the foremost Russian Romani guitarists in the world, and a leading artist at Moscow's Romen Theatre. Born in Saratov, Russia, he began his training in earliest childhood, and at the age of fifteen, started dancing, singing, playing the Russian seven-string guitar, and composing for the Romen Theatre. He has toured internationally with The Kolpakov Trio and Gelem, playing for heads of state, Romani music festivals, and the World Music Institute's Gypsy Caravan, and at Carnegie Hall. Founder of the Boston-based Russian Romani group VIA Romen, Kolpakov has made historical reconstruction, solo, duet, and ensemble recordings. Kolpakov was Artist-in-Residence at Harvard, Boston University, Oberlin, Grinnell, and the University of Iowa, and is now Artist-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Vadim performs Saturday in the group "Vadim Kolpakov and VIA Romen": Arkadiy Gips (violin), Alex Gorodezky (guitar), Petra Gelbart (vocal, accordion), Helena Safarova (vocal) and Vadim Kolpakov (guitar, vocal, dance)
www.VadimKolpakov.com - www.MySpace.com/VadimKolpakov

PETRA GELBART
Was born into a family of Romani musicians, amateur and professional, in the former Czechoslovakia, where she has spent half of her life. She owes her most important musical skills to her mother, grandmother, and great-aunt, who trained her in Romani styles of singing. These styles rely on the intuitive yet specific use of vocal technique in which tone production and breath flow are varied according to the emotion of the moment. She has performed at venues in the United States and in the Czech Republic.

CELE PASKOSKI
(info pending!)

INSPECTOR GADJE
Inspector Gadje brings a big sound to the beautiful and bumpin’ brass band music of the Balkans. Formed by students of Rom master Rumen "Sali" Shopov, the band draws on talents known to Bay Area audiences from such bands as the Brass Liberation Orchestra, Zoyres Eastern European Wild Ferment, and the Gomorran Social Aid & Pleasure Club. Inspector Gadje is an acoustic dance machine that makes the party move!    inspectorgadje.com
Petra Gates, truba; Noah Levitt, trumpet; Morgan Nilsen, clarinet; Ofir Uziel, alto saxophone; Paul Bertin, alto saxophone; Mike Perlmutter, alto saxophone/clarinet; Greg Michalec, baritone saxophone Jeff Giaquinto, trombone; Paul Marini, baritone horn Andrew Cohen, sousaphone; Sean Tergis, percussion, Marco Peris, percussion.

Raymond van Tassel

CAROL SILVERMAN
Carol Silverman is a professor of folklore and cultural anthropology at the University of Oregon. She has done extensive field research on Romani music, culture, and politics, and has worked with Roma in Macedonia, Bulgaria and New York on human rights issues. She teaches singing locally in Oregon and nationally and has won several university teaching awards. She toured and recorded for over a decade with the Yuri Yunakov Ensemble, and performed in the 1999 North American tour of the Gypsy Caravan, also serving as its educational coordinator. She is the author of many articles on Balkan and Romani music; her book Romani Routes: Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora is forthcoming from Oxford Univ. Press.

SANI RIFATI
President and co-founder of Voice of Roma and of the California Herdeljezi Festival. Is an exuberant and exhilarating dance instructor. He has taught at Kolo Festival in SF, the Chicago Spring Dance Festival, Mainewoods Camp, Portland Maine, Balkanalia, Portland Oregon, Folkball, Madison Wisconsin, and at Balkan music and dance camps in the U.S. as well as at schools and folk dance events throughout the Bay Area.

OTHER PERFORMERS

• Benji Rifati

Sponsor

Herdeljezi Roma Festival 2011 is supported by grants from

Additonal sponsorship from

Donors

We thank the following organizations for their donations

• North Bay Portables
• Safeway
• The Community Voice
• Whole Foods

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